


After: The Big Gay

by CaramelDishwasher



Category: Original Work
Genre: After, Gay, M/M, Parody
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 21:36:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaramelDishwasher/pseuds/CaramelDishwasher
Summary: Basically plotless, following a budding freshman, Matt Swift, and his antics in search for ‘The One’, as Ginger would say.(A parody of the One Direction fanfic, ‘After’. There is no mention of 1D.)





	After: The Big Gay

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [After](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/450518) by Imaginator1D. 



> A very gay parody of ‘After’, by Anna Todd, or Imaginator1D. No hate intended, just something to get me into writing fanfiction. Criticisms happily accepted! Enjoy ~(^w^~)

“Matt!”

The lump on the bed groans, and rolls over in the hope for a second sleep.

“Matthew!”

Groggily, Matt gets off the bed, wrapped in nothing but a cocoon of blankets, and slowly shuffles to the bathroom. Blearily, he washes his face and lathers on some moisturiser. Inspecting his reflection, he sighs, and rummages for a clean towel.

His mother’s screeching tones reach his unsuspecting ears, and he winces.

“Coming!”

Matt wasn’t sure what he’d done to land himself a place in Washington State University, but it sure seemed like a miracle. Maybe it was his steadfast determination to pet every dog he came across, Matt mused, or maybe it was a result of his mother’s unending prayers to God after Matt came out to her. Whatever it was, he wasn’t just going to squander this opportunity. He’d graduate with a degree and make his family proud.

Content with his internal monologue, Matt stepped into the shower and came out five minutes later, skin red from the water and the speed at which he scrubbed himself.

Within three minutes Matt was thundering down the stairs, having shed his blanket chrysalis in favour of a red hoodie and grey jeans, brown satchel slung over one shoulder. A present from mom. With his blonde, wavy hair parted neatly to one side, he smirked sexily at his reflection in the mirror, and quickly moved away, lest it crack.

“There you are!”, Matt’s mother boomed, “Did you sleep well, dear? Breakfast’s on the table. Oh, I can’t believe it, my son, going to live by himself in college!”

At this point, Matt felt obliged to respond, and gave a grunt, scoffing down waffles. His mother huffed at his lack of response but did not scold him, overjoyed she was.

They kept up the one-sided conversation until the doorbell rang.

“Oh, that’ll be Ginger, I’ll let her in.”

She bustled over to the door, and let their neighbour in.

Ginger was Matt’s best friend, and had been ever since she and her family moved in seventeen years ago. She hugged Matt in lieu of a greeting, excitement sparkling in her hazel eyes. Ginger began talking at the speed of light.

“I can’t believe you’re going to WSU! I’m so excited and nervous for you, well mostly excited, but still nervous, like you’re becoming an adult, and you’re going to graduate and get a degree and everything, and then you’re going to get a wonderful job and have a family and a big house with a cat and a dog and-”

She suddenly interrupted herself with a gasp, and clasped her hands together, a faraway look in her eyes.

“What if you find ‘The One’?” Ginger exclaimed, urging Matt to at least humour her crazy notion.

Matt opened his mouth to retort, or to laugh in her face, when his mother shouted from across the hall.

“Come on Ginger, Matt! We’re leaving!”

Ginger opened her mouth again, but Matt interrupted her with his yell of “Shotgun!” and proceeded to run to the car, the five year old he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they eventually reached the tall, formidable building that Matt would be staying, his thoughts drifted towards what Ginger has said. _With my luck_ , Matt thought cynically, _I’ll be the only gay guy here._ They walked past the deserted lobby to the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. “...B20, B21, B22... we’re here!” Ginger announced enthusiastically, fizzing with energy. _She looks like a little kid,_ Matt thought fondly. He wasn’t feeling even a fraction of his friend’s joy. If he was honest to himself-which he wasn’t-Matt would say that he was dreading college life. He wasn’t the most outgoing person, and he was about to be thrown into a world where he knew no one. He wouldn’t even have Ginger, whom he’d always relied on, the both of them being neighbours and all that. Now, Matt couldn’t even jump into her balcony to talk to her, which he did every day of the week.

Gulping down all his anxieties, he threw open the door B22 and stepped in. His eyes scanned the room. One closet next to the door, two desks adjacent the wall, a door that probably led to the bathroom, two beds on opposite sides of the room, a ginger guy on bed on the right… _Wait_. Matt blinked at the guy on the bed, and the guy blinked back. The guy had messy ginger hair, blue eyes and tanned, tattooed skin. His face broke into a grin when their eyes met, revealing a snaggletooth.

“Heya! You must be my roommate. The name’s Graham, but everyone calls me Gray. Nice to meet ya.”

Gray bounded off the bed and landed neatly in front of Matt, flashing him a toothy grin. In spite of himself, Matt smiled back.

“I’m Matt, nice to meet you too.”

 _He’s not too bad,_ Matt thought, _Seems like friendly dude._ Suddenly, the door burst open, startling Ginger and making his mother jump. _Ooh, here comes trouble,_ Matt thought, _and make that double._

“Oh hey guys!”, Gray turned his attention to the newcomers, “Meet my new roommate, Matt.” Gray gestured at them. Matt waved at the two strangers awkwardly, unsure of what to do. The shorter man came up to him.

“Hi! Hope we’re not interrupting. I’m Leo.” Leo held out his hand, and Matt shook it gratefully. Leo was about half a head shorter than him, with bleach blonde, stylishly messy hair and tattoos peeking out from under his t-shirt. _Hello there, fellow blonde,_ Matt mused. He glanced at the man standing next to Leo, a brunette with wavy almost-shoulder length hair, paler than Gray but darker than Leo, with grey eyes and sporting a scowl. He also had tattoos snaking up both arms and covering his ankles and thighs. The brunette’s many piercings glistened, while his left earlobe sported a single stud. The brunette rolled his eyes in annoyance at Leo’s antics, and gave off waves of impatience. Gray ushered the other two out, and with a “See you around!”, the door closed. There was a stunned silence, before Matt’s mother spoke, quivering with anger.

“You are not living here”, She said, voice tight with rage. “Not if the likes of those people will be lurking around here.”

“Gray and Leo seemed nice”, Ginger said cautiously, afraid of provoking the beast.

Matt instantly backed her up, “Yeah, mom, Gray was friendly. And his friends don’t seem too bad. Besides, it’s not like we can do anything about it now. I can take care of myself, really.”

It took a little more persuasion from both Ginger and Matt, before she left the friends alone with a huff, unsatisfied with the overall decision. That is, Matt was staying, whether she liked it or not.

Matt and Ginger let out collective breaths once Matt’s mother was out of earshot, and Ginger turned to Matt. Without a word, she gave Matt a bone-crushing hug, burying her ginger head in his chest.

“I’ll miss you”, she breathed, crushing his arms into his sides.

“I-I’ll miss you too dude”, Matt wheezed, struggling to breathe.

Ginger suddenly let go, and stared into Matt’s eyes. “Promise to call me?”, she asked, holding out her hand, pinky extended. Matt grinned, raised his hand and linked their pinkies together. “Promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour after Ginger left, Matt was still unpacking. _Is there no end?,_ He asked himself, as he dumped his Christmas jumpers on his bed, along with all his other clothes that he’d ‘unpacked’. _That’s enough for today, I’ll put everything away tomorrow. For sure._ Content with his decision, Matt’s eyes wandered towards Gray’s side of the room. Every inch of wall was covered in posters that displayed some boy band, a startling contrast from Matt’s bare walls. Matt contemplated buying something for his room, then decided to go shopping some other day. _Besides,_ he justified to himself, _I don’t have a car_.

Pulling out his sketchbook from his satchel, the blonde flopped down at his desk and began to draw. A tattooed, dark skinned silhouette began to take shape, before Matt’s head drooped down, heavy with sleep. Within seconds, his head made contact with the surface of the desk and he let out a soft snore, fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Awakening with a jolt, Matt’s first instinct was to check the time on his bedside clock. _Huh? Where am I?_

Bleary images pieces themselves together in his mind, and he pulled out his phone.

_09:24_

But more importantly for him:

_10 missed calls from: Mom_

Suddenly wide awake, he quickly typed an apologetic message to his mother, detailing how he’d fallen asleep with his phone on silent and how sorry he was. Getting up carefully, he popped his joints and stretched, letting out a yawn. Glancing over to his right, he noticed that Gray never came back to the room. Remembering Leo and then the rude brunette, Matt let out an annoyed exhale. _Prick._ Deciding to take a shower, he picked out clothes from the array on his bed, and headed for the showers. Upon arrival, Matt noticed two things:

  1. The door led to a long tiled hallway, with individual shower cubicles along the left and the right sides
  2. The only thing separating the cubicles from the hallway was a thin layer of plastic, which wasn’t even completely opaque.



With a defeated sigh, the blonde stepped into the first available cubicle and hung his clothes on the hangers provided, cursing whoever came up the design of the showers. Matt vowed to be the first to the showers every morning, anything to avoid being in a room full of sweaty naked students first thing every morning. The water took longer to warm up as he’d have preferred, but before long Matt was soon forgetting all his troubles as the water washed over him. Lathering shampoo in to his hair, Matt allowed a sigh of bliss to escape his lips. Tension and stress seeped out of his body, hot water soothing his aching muscles. After a relaxing soak, Matt reluctantly turned off the water. Peering at his hapharzardingly thrown together outfit, Matt realised, with a palm to the face, that he’d forgotten to bring any pants. _Just when things were finally starting to go uphill, my stupidity pushes me down again,_ Matt thinks, self-pityingly. Pulling on a cat t-shirt, the bonde poked his head out from behind the curtains to survey the hallway. _Coast is clear._ With uncharacteristic speed, Matt sprinted down the halls, towel around his waist, wearing a yellow cat t-shirt on back-to-front. Throwing open the door of B22, he frantically rushed in, kicking the door closed again with his heel. Relieved, Matt flopped down dramatically on his bed, the recent surge of adrenaline turning his limbs into jelly. Hearing a shift in the bed opposite, the blonde’s eyes drifted over to Gray’s bed.

The brunette from yesterday was sprawled regally on Gray’s bed, listlessly flicking through his phone. The stranger glances over at him, then returns to his phone, seemingly uninterested. Gulping down his shock, Matt decided to strike up a conversation.

“Hi there! I’m Matt, Gray’s roommate, and you must be…” Letting the sentence hang in the air, he offered a warm smile to the brunette. Tearing his eyes away from his phone, the tattooed man stared at him. Then he began to laugh. Two dents appeared on either side of his large mouth. Matt’s smile slipped, unsure of what situation he’d just placed himself in. Flushing, Matt saw himself through the stranger’s eyes. Shirt back-to-front, towel wrapped around his waist, blonde hair a mess. He jumped up, and turned his back to brunette, dressing hurriedly. Matt didn’t notice the laughter stopping abruptly when he took off his shirt only to put it back on again, so that the cat was sitting atop his torso. Matt was running a brush through his hair when Gray entered, grinning lopsidedly when he clapped eyes on his roommate and the brunette. “Matt buddy! And what are you doing to on my bed, Kris?” _Kris,_ Matt thought, _His name’s Kris_ . Gray turned attention to Matt again, and Matt thought he recognised the look in his eyes. It was a begging-puppy look, blue eyes widened for maximum effect. Ginger used it often. For a second, Matt’s gay heart skipped a beat. Then he recollected himself. _That was close,_ Matt thought. Gray’s voice snapped him out of his daze.

“...party at a local frat house! It’ll be so awesome, and you’ll get to meet lots of people. How about it?”

Before Matt could answer, Kris cut in with a laugh.

“You seriously think he’ll go, Gray? Not a chance.”

Matt blinked at him; this was first time he’d heard Kris talk. His British accent, similar to Leo’s, was honestly the most adorabl- _No!_ , Matt chided himself, horrified, _No crushing on straights guys! Bad Matt!_

“...so will you go?”

Gray’s voice brought him back to the present. He was looking at him eagerly, eyes pleading with him, almost pouting. Matt scrunched up his nose, rabbit-like, thinking.

“Okay, since I don’t really have anything to do this afternoon anyway.”

Which was a lie, if his unpacked suitcases had any say in it. Which they didn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gray had kicked Kris out, claiming to need peace and quiet to get ready, which Matt was very grateful for. The blonde was in the process of hanging all his clothes in their shared closet and half-listening to Gray, who was looking through his own clothes and then flinging them to the side with multiple complaints.

“How do I look?” Matt wheeled around, to see that Gray had transformed. Gray was already good-looking, and complete with the tan biker jacket and black skinny jeans, he looked stunning. Hair stylishly messy, snaggletooth jutting out, he looked like a ginger golden retriever cosplaying as a biker. Matt silently chuckled at the image.

“You look great, man.” And he meant it.

“Thanks Matt. But are you sure-”

“Absolutely.” Matt interrupted, with as much sincerity as he could muster, catching Gray before he fell down the rabbit hole of insecurity like the last six times.

Gray grinned, all teeth.  

“What about you, what are you wearing?” Gray’s question caught him off guard, and he turned his attention to his wardrobe. Pulling out a few things, Matt turned to him with a grin.

“You’ll see.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A car horn honked, signaling that Leo was here.

“Let’s go!” Gray exclaimed, almost bouncing with excitement. _Definitely a puppy,_ Matt thought, looking at his friend. As they two walked down out the building to the car, Matt laughed out loud as Leo’s eyes widened in shock. Matt was wearing his loud yellow T-shirt with the cat on the front, a bright orange jacket, vivid green and blue striped jeans and lavender running shoes. He’d even borrowed some cherry red hair slides from Gray, which contrasted beautifully with his blonde, wavy hair. Basically, Matt screamed ‘Gay’ in rainbow colours to anyone who even glanced his way.

“Something wrong?” Matt asked innocently. Leo, seeming to gain his senses again, said, “U-um, yeah, I’m-no, nothing’s wrong.” He cleared his throat.

“I like your outfit.” Leo spoke softly, embarrassed.

It was Matt’s turn to look shocked. Chuckling, Leo told him how he wished that he had enough courage to wear that, and that no, he wasn’t judging him in the slightest. _Bless,_ Matt thought, _He’s too sweet for this world._

Then he spotted Kris. The brunette was wearing a black leather jacket and his shoulder length brown hair looked fluffy from being blowed-dried. Matt had a sudden irresistible urge to card his hands through his hair. _Nope, don’t go that route._

Kris stared at him, surprise written all over his face. Matt searched his expression for any trace of disgust, or maybe even anger, and then swiftly reminded himself that he didn’t care about anyone’s opinion, especially not this Kris’. Instead he smirked.  

“Like what you see?” Matt even threw in a wink, you know, because he wanted to mess with the brunette. Nothing else. _I win_ , Matt thought triumphantly when two scarlet spots appeared on his cheeks, followed by a scowl.

“Just get in ”, Came the gruff reply.

“Roger that ”, he grinned at Kris, who averted his eyes.

_Cute._

_._

_._

_._

_Wait, no!_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fraternity was huge. As Leo’s car rolled through the gates, the noise hit them. Loud rock music boomed through loudspeakers and mixed with the buzz of chatter of a hundred young adults, creating a cacophony that could be heard three streets away.

“How many people are there?” Matt asked, incredulous.

“Full house tonight ”, Kris replied, anticipation making him chattier and excited.

At the door, Matt was handed a red cup. Sniffing it, he decided against it and set it on a counter. He didn’t want to be drunk-calling Ginger at three am, asking her where the sugar was, and that he wanted to make a chicken curry for his cat’s wedding.

“There you are!” Gray’s cheery voice startled him, and he turned around.

Gray grabbed his arm and led him to a corner, chattering in his ear. Gray was drunker than the last time he’d seen him, and Matt was sure it had only been ten minutes. Gray led him to the coach, with half a dozen young adults squished up against each other, each holding a red cup. Matt caught Kris looking him up and down from his spot on the left armrest, and he grinned at the brunette smugly. Gray introduced him to all his friends, and an olive-skin man with short black hair rose and shook his hand, offering him a friendly smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kyle.” Kyle spoke softly, and Matt instantly warmed up to him.

“I could say the same to you.”, he replied with a grin.

Kyle leaned closer.

“I like what you’re wearing,” Kyle whispered in his ear, the mischievious glint in his eye matching the metallic glint on his tongue. Matt stifled a laugh. Meeting his eye, Kyle spluttered, eyes crinkling with mirth as they maintained eye contact for a moment, before they simultaneously roared with laughter, making Leo jump.

“What the hell?”, Kris demanded, nerves frazzled, “Are you guys possessed or something?”

“Don’t you mean, “‘Are you _gays_ possessed or something?’”, Kyle joked, giggling.

Kris groaned.

“I hate you both.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt was lost. He’d excused himself to the bathroom ten minutes ago, and he still couldn’t find it. Every door led to a bedroom, and if Matt didn’t find the bathroom in the next five minutes, he’d have to use one of the potted plants placed sporadically in the centre of the hallways.

 _Jackpot,_ Matt thought as he threw open the next door. His phone ‘dinged’ as he was washing his hands. Wiping them off on his jeans, he opened a message from Ginger. Chuckling at the message, Matt texted her back.

_(23:47)_

_Gingiebwead: H-hewwo?!_

_Meowtt: OWO What’s this?_

_Gingiebwead: You noticed me senpai!_

_Gingiebwead: How’re things, Matty? UwU_

_Meowtt: Unexpectedly well. I have my first classes tomorrow and Gray and his friends are actually awesome. I’m actually at a frat party with them right now : > _

_Gingiebwead: A frat party! That’s bananas! Did you meet anyone yet??? ;)))_

_Meowtt: Never say that again_

_Meowtt: also no :(_

_Gingiebwead: Turn that frown upside down! Also your horoscope says that The One is close, so keep an eye out! :D_

_Meowtt: …_

_Meowtt: Can you feel my exasperation through the screen?_

_Gingiebwead: Nope! ~(•w•~)_

_Meowtt: You dehydrated radish._

With a sigh that held the weight of the world, Matt exited the bathroom and wandered down the halls, following the increasing volume of noise. A door lay wide open, and thoughtlessly, Matt peered inside. His mind was so full of swirling half-formed images from his previous conversation with Ginger that he didn’t register what was before his eyes. When it finally clicked, Matt quickly backed away, face red, apologies rattling off his tongue. The pink haired girl that was straddling Kris clicked her tongue, which had been down Kris’ throat just seconds before, in annoyance, and ordered Matt to close the door. Matt hastily compiled, too embarrassed to be irked by the order. _Calm down,_ Matt thought, taking a deep breath. As the blonde resumed walking, his thoughts drifted Kris. _I was right_ , Matt thought forlornly, _He is straight_. _Not that I care._ As he reached the end of the staircase, Matt was ripped away from his thoughts when a certain ginger stumbled into his peripheral vision. _A wild Gray appeared_ , Matt thought, amused. Stepping forward to grab his friend, Matt slung a supporting arm over his shoulder.

“Watch out dude. Let’s find you a place to lie down, yeah?”

Gray mumbled incoherently, which Matt took as a yes. He turned around and ascended to stairs again, towing Gray up after him.

“Need some help?”, a soft voice asked. Matt craned his neck to see Leo running to Gray’s side, and helped him hoist their intoxicated friend to the landing. Gray gave the side of Leo’s face a kiss, giggling drunkenly. The shorter man blushed, and protested when he saw Matt’s knowing smirk.

“It’s not like that!”

“Not like what?”, Matt asked teasingly, “I didn’t say anything.”

“Y-you know what I mean!”

“That I think that you two are dating?”

Leo’s eyes widened, pupils blown wide.

“Yeah.”, he answered, so quietly that Matt almost didn’t catch it. Matt didn’t say anything, unwilling to push the blonde any further. Leo would tell him when he was comfortable. They found an empty room at the end of the hall, and had just settled a muttering Gray onto a bed when Leo mumbled, “I-Iwkehem,” in a rush.

“What?” Matt searched his face tentatively, afraid that the alcohol was getting to his friend, and that he was going to start dancing on a table or something, like Ginger had when she ate too many liquor chocolates.

“I like him.” Leo repeated again, slowly, his British accent becoming thicker and more distinguishable. _Oh,_ Matt thought.

“I’m happy for you, man,” Matt said sincerely. He was genuinely happy for him. Leo looked visibly relieved, and thanked him gratefully.

“What are you two doing in my room?”

Both blondes turned to see Kris, radiating annoyance.

“I think you mean “three”.”, Matt corrected him before he could help himself, gesturing to the sleeping Gray on Kris’s bed. With a huff, Kris crossed his arms, and told them to go somewhere else.

“No one stays in my room.” Kris said. _Duly noted,_ Matt thought, remembering his earlier fiasco that involved Kris and the pink haired girl. However, something in him wanted to mess with Kris, so, slinging Gray’s right arm over his shoulder once again, he asked playfully,

“What’s the magic word?”

Leo let out a strangled noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter, and the corner of Kris’ mouth twitched. _He likes that, huh_ , Matt thought, filing the information away for later. Without waiting for a reply, Matt left Kris’ room, almost making Leo drop Gray.

Finding another empty room, they lay Gray down on the bed. The jostling has woken up the ginger though and, groaning, tried to stand, but instead fell face flat on the bed. Leo turned him over so that he wouldn’t suffocate himself, and then both blondes flopped down on either side of him, exhausted. They stared at the ceiling. Matt snickered.

“What’s so funny?”, Gray asked, suddenly concerned for the well-being of his friend.

“Nothing, just,” Matt paused, trying to find the right words, “Three friends, sharing a bed, not looking at each other cause they’re not gay.”

“What?”

“Oh, nevermind.”

“You’re not making sense dude. Also you _are_ gay. And so am I.”

“You are?” Leo exclaimed, shocked. Gray met his eyes, equally shocked.

“Leonardo, I _kissed_ you! I told you that I liked you!”

“But-but you were drunk!”

“I wasn’t drunk! I only started to drink because you thanked me!”

Silence.

Matt got up and left, closing the door behind him.

  
  
  



End file.
